James Jackson, Ex Dem of Martha Bradstreet, Plaintiff In Error v. Henry Huntington, Defendant In Error

• Decision Date: 01 January 1831
• Citation: 30 U.S. 402,5 Pet. 402,8 L.Ed. 170
• Parties: JAMES JACKSON, EX DEM. OF MARTHA BRADSTREET, PLAINTIFF IN ERROR v. HENRY HUNTINGTON, DEFENDANT IN ERROR
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

30 U.S. 402

5 Pet. 402

8 L.Ed. 170

JAMES JACKSON, EX DEM. OF MARTHA BRADSTREET, PLAINTIFF IN ERROR v. HENRY HUNTINGTON, DEFENDANT IN ERROR.

January Term, 1831

ERROR to the district court of the northern district of New York.

The plaintiff in error, in 1824, instituted an action of ejectment in the district court of the United States for the northern district of New York, for the recovery of a tract of land situated in the village of Utica, and the county of Oneida, in the northern district of New York. The cause was tried at January term 1827, and a verdict and judgment were rendered for the defendant. The plaintiff excepted to the opinion of the court on various points of evidence and of law, presented in the course of the trial, and the court sealed a bill of exceptions. The plaintiff sued out a writ of error to this court.

The bill of exceptions states at large all the evidence and proceedings on the trial of the cause.

The title of the lessor of the plaintiff and that of the defendant, as exhibited in the evidence contained in the bill of exceptions, was as follows:

Philip Schuyler purchased Cosby's manor, sold by the sheriff of the county of Albany for arrears of quit rent, under a warrant from the chief justice of the state of New York, dated May 7, 1772. This property was conveyed to Philip Schuyler by a deed executed by the sheriff of the county of Albany, dated July 20, 1772.

General John Bradstreet made his last will and testament on the 23d September 1774. The will, after providing for the adjustment of his accounts, he being in the British service, and devising a farm to John Bradstreet Schuyler, son of Colonel Schuyler, and some legacies, proceeds 'all the rest of my estate, real and personal, I devise and bequeath to my two daughters, equally to be divided between them, as tenants in common, in fee. But I charge the same with the payment of one hundred pounds sterling per annum to their mother during her life. Notwithstanding the former devise for the benefit of my wife and daughters, I empower my executors to do all acts and execute all instruments which they may conceive to be requisite to the partition of my landed estate, and I devise the same to them as joint tenants, to be by them sold at such time and in such manner as they shall think most for the interest of my daughters, to whom the nett produce shall be paid in equal shares, the sum of one hundred pounds sterling per annum being first deducted, or a capital to secure the same set apart for an annuity to my wife, as aforesaid. I order that Doctor Bruce have one hundred pounds for his trouble and for his kindness to me; my watch I give to Mr Gould as a mark of my friendship. I leave funeral expenses to the discretion of my executors, and I appoint for the execution of this my will the said Colonel Philip Schuyler and William Smith, Esqr. New York.'

Martha Bradstreet, one of the daughters of general Bradstreet, made her will on the 15th of May, 1781, and devised to her mother Mrs Mary Bradstreet, the produce and interest of her estate, real and personal, during her life; and after her decease she devised one equal third of her estate real and personal to her sister Elizabeth Livius, her heirs and assigns, to be at her disposal independent of her husband; one third part to Samuel Bradstreet and Martha Bradstreet, children of her late brother Samuel Bradstreet, and to their heirs, with benefit of survivorship, the produce of such one third part, and part of the principal, to be applied to their maintenance and education, if necessary. The remaining one third she gave to her sister Agatha, wife of Charles Du Belamy, during her life, independent of her husband; after his death, she surviving, to her in fee, but if she died before her husband, to her children; but if she survived her husband, and had no children, and should not dispose of the same by will, the same should go to Elizabeth Livius and her heirs. A like devise of the share given to Elizabeth Livius was made in favour of her sister Agatha, if she should die without disposing of her share, and without issue.

Sir Charles Gould was appointed sole executor of this will, and authorized to act relative to the estate of the testatrix in America, by the following provision: 'And I do authorize my said executor to sell and dispose of such real estate as I may be entitled to in North America, or elsewhere, and to execute conveyances for the same, and to place out my moneys upon such securities as he shall deem proper, and in such manner and form, as to the shares devised to my sister Agatha, and to my nephew and niece, Samuel and Martha, respectively, as shall be conformable to the provisions of the will in respect to each of those shares.'

It was in evidence that Martha Bradstreet, the testatrix, and John and Mary Bradstreet, were deceased.

The will of Elizabeth Livius, deceased, purporting to be executed on the 20th November 1794, was offered in evidence. The court not considering it duly proved, refused to permit it to be read to the jury; to which opinion, an exception was taken by the plaintiff. By that will Mrs Martha Bradstreet, the lessor of the plaintiff, and the daughter of Samuel Bradstreet, the brother of Mrs Livius, then deceased, was made her sole heir. The provisions of the will were: 'I hereby constitute and appoint my dear niece, Martha Bradstreety daughter of my late brother Samuel Bradstreet, major of the fortieth regiment of foot, to be my sole heir, to whatever estate, real or personal, I may die possessed of, to be paid, or delivered unto her at the age of twenty-one years, or day of marriage, whichever may first happen; provided she marries with the consent of my most respected friend, Sir Charles Morgan, Bart., whom I hereby appoint executor of this my last will and testament. But in case she should die before she attain twenty-one years of age, or before she be married as aforesaid, I then appoint her brother, Samuel Bradstreet, a lieutenant in the 25th regiment of foot, to be my heir in her place and stead.

Martha Bradstreet, the devisee and the lessor of the plaintiff, afterwards, with the consent of Sir Charles Morgan, married Matthew Codd, but being divorced from her husband, she resumed her original name. The evidence to prove the assent of Sir Charles Morgan to this marriage was excepted to by the counsel for the defendant, and the exception was sustained. To this ruling of the district court, the plaintiff excepted.

The plaintiff also gave in evidence a map of the whole tract of land conveyed to Philip Schuyler by the sheriff of the county of Albany in 1772; and proved by Mr John R. Bleecker, who was sworn as a witness, that said map was in the hand writing of his grandfather, that he, the witness, received it of his own father, Rutger Bleecker, deceased; and that he, the witness, holds certain parts of said land, under title derived from his said father, who also in his life time was in possession of the same, pursuant to a partition deed thereinafter mentioned, and according to the allotments on the said map, which said map appeared to have been made on the 31st day of August 1780, and was stated to be in pursuance of a survey of said tract.

And there was also given in evidence, a deed of partition between Philip Schuyler, and Rutger Bleecker, dated the 19th day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-six, whereby and wherein, lot No. 97, as described on the map, was released by Rutger Bleecker, to Philip Schuyler; and the counsel for the said James Jackson, also gave in evidence and proved that the premises in question upon the trial of that issue, were part of the lot No. 97.

On the 16th of May 1794, a deed was executed by Philip Schuyler and others, of which the following is an abstract: 'The parties were, Philip Schuyler, of the county of Albany, in the state of New York, Esquire, executor of the last will and testament of John Bradstreet, deceased, and hereinafter mentioned, of the one part, and Agatha Evans, of the city of New York, in the state of New York, widow, one of the daughters of the said John Bradstreet, deceased, and Edward Goold, of the same place, merchant, attorney to Sir Charles Gould, Knight, the only executor of the last will and testament of Martha Bradstreet, deceased, the other daughter of the said John Bradstreet, of the other part.'

It recites the will of general John Bradstreet, and that Philip Schuyler, at the time of the making thereof, was seised in trust for the said John Bradstreet of one undivided fourth part of the tract of land described in the partition deed executed by himself and Rutger Bleecker (together with other lands): the death of William Smith, his co-executor: and that Agatha Evans, formerly Agatha Du Bellamy, is one of the daughters of John Bradstreet. It also recites the will of Martha Bradstreet, the daughter of John Bradstreet, and the devises in the same of one third to Samuel and Martha Bradstreet, children of her brother Samuel Bradstreet, deceased, one third to his sister Agatha, then the wife of Charles Du Bellamy, afterwards Agatha Evans, the wife of Charles John Evans, and the remaining one third to her sister Elizabeth Livius; and that partition had been made among the proprietors of the tracts in the manner of Cosby, describing the lots which fell to Schuyler, as trustee of John Bradstreet, and among them lot No. 97; and that the same had, with other lots which fell to Schuyler in his own right, been conveyed to him by the deed of partition. The deed states, that the said Philip Schuyler, 'as well to invest the said Agatha Evans with a legal title to her proportion of the said lands and tenements, devised to her by virtue of the will of the said John Bradstreet and Martha Bradstreet, as to convey the rest and residue thereof to the said Edward Goold, in trust for the said persons who may be entitled to the benefit thereof, under the will of...